In today’s society, recycling has become a major part of saving our planet. From cardboard to cans, everyone is recycling more and more. You may be wondering how to recycle properly or what you can do to help. It’s easy, really. Mostly anything you can think of can be recycled. For example:

Paper:

flattened cardboard, cereal boxes, pizza boxes, beverage/egg cartons, any cardboard box that comes with food in it, newspaper, regular paper, junk mail, or magazines.

Glass:

liquor bottles, beverage/juice containers, glass jars, really any glass that is not broken.

Plastic:

plastic bottles, plastic cartons, egg containers, shampoo/soap bottles; but not plastic bags.

Metal:

beverage cans, cans that come with food in them, any metal without sharp edges or shrapnel. 

All of these items are recyclable, but take caution before throwing them in your recycling bin. For the items that came with beverages or food in them, make sure they are washed out with no residue left over. The reason for this is so it doesn’t ruin any material in the bin, which makes it easier to recycle the items. As well as rinsing, take caution with glass and metal to make sure there are no broken pieces or sharp edges. This is for safety purposes and will make everyone’s job a lot safer. 

As well, make sure all the recyclables are dry so it won’t damage the materials. Also try to flatten out boxes and large items to compress the waste and save more room. After doing this, you are ready to put your items in the recycling bin. 

Not only can food items be recycled, many other items around a home can be as well. Another great way to recycle is bringing old appliance parts to a local recycler. A great way to reuse parts and avoid safety hazards is searching up local places that take in old appliances and bring them there. A second item could be old clothing. Instead of throwing away an old t-shirt, find a local clothing bin for the homeless and donate your clothes. Bringing clothes to your local thrift store is most definitely recycling and can make someone very happy. Thrift stores don’t only take in clothing, they take appliances too. If you have kitchenware or decor that you are just going to throw away, bring it to a thrift store.

There are so many different ways to recycle that most people don’t know about. So next time you go to throw something away, maybe think about recycling it.